


you come with pleasure and pain (maybe I'll treat you the same)

by theodoracrain



Category: The Haunting of Hill House (TV 2018)
Genre: Alcohol, Drug Use, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-09 13:24:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17407727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theodoracrain/pseuds/theodoracrain
Summary: The start of a relationship is never easy. Or the one where Trish invites Theo to a small gathering that ends up to be the party of all parties and Theo is not scared of parties, but is scared of her feelings about Trish.





	you come with pleasure and pain (maybe I'll treat you the same)

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a silly, little story, but it end up to be a three chapter story. Huh. Also I love Shirley and Theo and their relationship and it shows. A huge thank you to @canadianwheatpirates for their help.

It felt…wrong.

The apartment felt wrong.

It was too big, too expensive, it only had one and a half bathrooms, the walls needed to be painted, and the layout of the kitchen was all wrong. 

Theo didn’t seem to mind, of course — she loved the location and the views — but to Shirley it felt wrong. Or maybe it wasn’t the apartment’s fault, but her own. When she had thrown Theo out two months ago she had been angry at her little sister — angry and upset. Yet that was before they had gone to Hill House, before they’d seen Nellie’s ghost, before she’d watched her sister break down in the middle of fucking nowhere. Now here they were, apartment hunting for Theo in Boston, and Shirley didn’t like it at all. 

“No, it’s not…” She fought to find something negative to say. “The kitchen’s layout is all wrong. And the appliances need to be update.”

Theo looked at her, and Shirley didn’t need to be a sensitive to know she was pissed off. “It’s not as if I’m going to spend all my time in the kitchen, Shirley.”

“Yeah, well.” she was a Crain, and the Crains were stubborn as hell. “You’re gonna hate it in the long run.”

Five minutes later they were in Theo’s car The music was playing too loud for Shirley’s taste, but she wasn’t going to comment; not when Theo was still ‘homeless’ and she was doing her best to keep the peace. She wanted Theo to move out — it was about damn time — but she didn’t want it to happen right away. She knew how selfish that thought was. That’s why she kept it for herself.

“Next time you’re not coming with,” Theo told her after twenty minutes of driving in almost silence. Shirley loved her sister, but Theo’s taste in music was getting on her nerves.

“You’re going to end up in a crappy apartment in the wrong part of town if I leave you alone. You need me to-“

“To what? Point out every little thing wrong? Okay, sure, it was overpriced, but it was four blocks for my fucking office, Shirl! I wouldn’t need my car, I could just walk there.”

Shirley could feel a headache coming on. “The kitchen-“

“Fuck the kitchen.” Theo said under her breath and then, more loudly, “Fuck the fucking kitchen!” 

“Maybe I don’t want you to move right away,” Shirley finally admitted. “Just…not yet, okay?” 

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Theo turn her head to look at her. It only lasted a couple of seconds; her attention quickly went back to the road. “Luke’s going to need somewhere to stay after rehab.” Theo reached over and turned down the music. “That gives us a couple months — more if he goes to Steve’s first.”

“Yeah.”

“Besides, I’m moving to Boston, not the West Coast.” Theo’s voice was light, but Shirley’s heart felt heavy with that thought. “Just thirty minutes’ drive.”

“Yeah.”

She tried a different approach. “This is good. Moving on. This is good. For both of us. We both said some things… things we needed to say and hear, so this is good. This is the healthy way to do things.” 

“Theo, can we just not do this right now?” It came out harsher that Shirley intended, but she didn’t apologize; she didn’t have to. Maybe Theo had been right. No, she knew that Theo was somewhat right, that night she broke down, and she couldn’t stop thinking it. Theo kept everyone at arm’s length for a good reason, but she was going places; she was living her life while Shirley was, well… living more quietly.

She was thankful that Kevin forgave her. So damn thankful! It was right, what they said: people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, but she had done exactly that, secure in the thought that Kevin wouldn’t find out. 

Telling him the truth was the right thing to do.

Now that she was calm enough to think straight, she can see that her family would have suffered if he hadn’t taken Steve’s money.

They had both given up the secrets they’d kept from one another and now their relationship felt…stronger.

“Does Trish know?” she suddenly asked. Judging from the long silence that followed, Theo was keeping secrets as well. “Are you thinking of telling her?”

“Yeah. No. I don’t know,” came the answer, and she knew now not to push. 

She couldn’t really understand how Theo’s… gift, power, whatever, worked, and she still had a hard time accepting it. She could only imagine what Trish could think if, or hopefully when, Theo came clean to her. Besides, it was too early on their relationship to drop such a bomb — and it was a bomb! Perhaps the bomb to end all bombs. 

“If you can see a future with her… take your time, but tell her.” 

Theo said nothing, so Shirley turned to look at her. 

“Did you?”

“Did I what?”

“Did you see a future with her? When you,” _had sex_ , “when you touched her.” 

“Shirley.” The warning was evident in Theo’s voice: drop it.

“Sorry.” She wasn’t. “I’m just saying, it’s normal to be afraid.”

“Shirley.”

“Okay, I’m stopping.” She couldn’t resist one last comment, though. “I’m just saying.”


End file.
